a) Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a device for manipulating a bundle of synchrotron rays, in particular in irradiating apparatuses for deep X-ray lithography which contain within a vacuum chamber an object table for receiving an object to be irradiated, which object table is adjustable by means of a scanning movement relative to the synchrotron beam bundle entering the vacuum chamber via a window.
b) Description of the Related Art
Such irradiating devices can be used to fabricate microsystems components by means of a technique known as the LIGA process (lithography with synchrotron radiation, electroforming and plastics molding) (LIGA process, Microelectronic Engineering 4 (1986) 35-56).
In this process, a resist layer is exposed directly by synchrotron radiation in the deep X-ray lithography process step by masking with an X-ray mask. To this end, the X-ray mask and the resist layer applied to the substrate are arranged on an object table which is adjustable in a scanning movement relative to the synchrotron beam bundle. The dimensions of the object table are typically approximately 100 mm in the horizontal direction and approximately 5 mm in the vertical direction.
As a result of the action of radiation in the non-masked regions, the structure of the resist is changed in such a way that the exposed surfaces of the resist layer can be dissolved in a subsequent development process. Since the synchrotron beam bundle has substantially constant characteristics with respect to its dimensions and spectral properties, modifications are required for the multitude of different applications. These modifications must be carried out under vacuum conditions and may not have a disruptive influence on the exposure process itself. For example, overexposure at the reversal points of the scanning movement must be eliminated in particular.